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Christopher Ahl, Play the Game: "An excellent Middle East Football blog"

James Corbett, Inside World Football

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Asia Central to Picking Next FIFA Chief (JMD quoted on Reuters)

SINGAPORE
— Once a football minnow, the Middle East has emerged as one of the sport's
most powerful blocs during Sepp Blatter's 17-year reign at FIFA, and is likely
to have a big say in who will replace the 79-year-old Swiss, who is stepping
down amid a deepening corruption scandal at the organisation.

The
Middle East holds power at the 46-member Asian Football Confederation (AFC),
the third largest of FIFA's six regional bodies but boasting the biggest and
fastest growing population, a dream ticket for FIFA sponsors like Coca-Cola and
Adidas.

The
region also boasts an abundance of sponsors willing to plough money into the
sport, with Qatari finance behind European giants Barcelona and Paris St
Germain, while the emergence of BeIn Sports in the TV rights market has helped
the money flow in many other leagues.

The
power and oil wealth allowing the Middle East to muscle in among the kingmakers
at football's top table, once monopolised by Europe and South America, helped
Qatar surprisingly land the right to host the 2022 World Cup, despite the small
Gulf nation's lack of success on the pitch.

The
power shift had been evident even before Mohamed Bin Hammam took charge of the
AFC in 2002, but it was under the Qatari's watch that the gap widened on
traditional Asian powers Japan and South Korea, who lost out on the 2022 World
Cup.

"I
think it's political skills. Politically, the West Asians were more
savvy," said Michelle Chai, a former AFC director who quit after Bin
Hammam was kicked out in 2011 for corruption. She now works with the UAE
domestic football league.

The
AFC is now headed by Bahrain's Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, but it is
widely accepted that Kuwait's Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah is the key
decision maker - and the man candidates will have to convince in return for
Asia's support.

A
former oil minister, Sheikh Ahmad was recently voted on to FIFA's powerful
Executive Committee, adding to his positions as head of the Association of
National Olympic Committees and the Olympic Council of Asia.

His
support and ability to pool votes is credited with helping Thomas Bach become
president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Shaikh Salman head the
AFC and Blatter win a fifth term in office.

SHIFTING
SANDS

Sheikh
Ahmad's influence is almost as strong as his father's, Sheikh Fahad, who
famously stormed on to the pitch at the 1982 World Cup and successfully
demanded the referee disallow a goal for France against Kuwait.

Sheikh
Ahmad had been tipped as a potential successor to Blatter - but that was before
FIFA's crisis erupted with the arrests of high ranking officials in Zurich last
week at the request of U.S. authorities, and Blatter's resignation.

James
Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University's S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies and author of several books on Middle Eastern
football politics, reckons Sheikh Ahmad's power has been weakened by the recent
turmoil at FIFA headquarters.

"Things
have flipped. Blatter did a 180-degree turn and that has consequences for the
federation, including Asia," Dorsey told Reuters. "Sheikh Ahmad and
Salman have been weakened. Those who voted for Blatter because they were afraid
can now come out of the dark."

KOREA
MOVE

One
of those now considering standing for the presidency is former FIFA executive
committee member Chung Mong-joon, the billionaire scion of South Korea's
Hyundai conglomerate, who helped bring the World Cup to Asia for the first time
in 2002.

In
an example of the East to West power pivot in Asia, Chung was voted off the
FIFA decision-making board in 2011 after losing an election to Prince Ali bin
al-Hussein of Jordan, backed then by Sheikh Ahmad.

The
Kuwaiti opted against telling his cohorts to support Ali who was running
against Blatter in last week's FIFA election.

Dorsey
said that has harmed Sheikh Ahmad's popularity.

"There's
a lot of bad feeling against Ahmad," he said. "He played a key role
from Thursday to Friday in that vote and he had 35 votes that he could play one
way or another that would have pushed Ali across the line."

Ali,
campaigning on a reform ticket and backed by most of the European Confederation
UEFA, has said he is willing to stand again, but it's uncertain if Ahmad would
back him or stand himself.

"Ali
is a reformer. He is the Middle East, but not the Middle East we are talking
about," Dorsey said.

"Ahmad
and Salman ... are people from the old regime, people who defended the status
quo. Defending the status quo is going to be more difficult."

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile